PRESS RELEASE: BRITTEN SINFONIA ANNOUNCES ITS 2025/26 SEASON

Britten Sinfonia has announced its 2025/26 season, featuring imaginative folk-inspired collaborations, climate-focused performances, and a celebration of contemporary voices. The season brings together partnerships and Britten Sinfonia’s trademark spirit of adventurous programming, from dance and opera projects at Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House to compelling soloists including Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Guy Johnston and Sarah Connolly.

Meurig Bowen, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, comments: “More than two years into a period when Britten Sinfonia has no regular funding from Arts Council England – a period now extended, even more challengingly, to five years out of the National Portfolio – I’m proud to announce a full and rich range of activity in our 2025/6 season. Through the generosity of a wide base of supporters, we have again been able to build a schedule for our brilliant musicians that is characteristically eclectic and, as a recent Guardian reviewer noted, ‘innovative as always’.”

Season at a Glance

• Contemporary Voices: Performances at the BBC Proms and Snape Maltings featuring a recent work by Gavin Higgins – alongside Sibelius, Pärt and Mozart – and world premieres by John Paul Jones and Magnum Opus composers at Wigmore Hall and King’s Place.
• Folk Inspirations: Stevens & Pound reimagine Holst’s The Planets, and ZRI Quintet bring a gypsy tavern spirit to the music of Brahms and Schubert.
• Climate, Nature and Fragile Worlds: Earth and Other Planets with Stevens & Pound and writer Robert Macfarlane gives our world its rightful place alongside our neighbours in the solar system; Sea Beneath the Skin at the Barbican sets Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde alongside Pacific ritual; and a fragile world triptych at the Barbican featuring Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus, Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony and Mayrhofer’s Recycling Concerto with percussionist Viva Vassileva, which sees Vassileva play a host of ingeniously repurposed, tuned and untuned rubbish. 
• Exciting Collaborations: Appearances by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and Guy Johnston; dance and opera partnerships with Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Polyphony and Stephen Layton, and sacred music for Holy Week featuring James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross with Tenebrae and Nigel Short.
• Community and Learning Initiatives: Expanded music in health programme, emerging composer showcases, and a growing regional footprint across the East of England.

Contemporary Voices

The season opens with performances at Bristol Beacon as part of the BBC Proms (23 August 2025) and at Snape Maltings Concert Hall (27 August 2025), bringing together new and old voices. Zoë Beyers directs Sibelius’s Rakastava, Arvo Pärt’s iconic Tabula Rasa and Mozart’s radiant Symphony No. 39, the first of the composer’s magnificent final symphonic triptych. Tess Jackson conducts Gavin Higgins’s Rough Voices, a powerful musical protest written in response to the pandemic, giving voice to marginalised communities.

As part of Britten Sinfonia’s commitment to championing new music, the season also features the world premiere of a new song cycle by rock legend John Paul Jones, written for Dame Sarah Connolly and ensemble, and premiered at Wigmore Hall (8 January 2026).

Britten Sinfonia’s acclaimed Magnum Opus programme continues, showcasing new works by early-career composers in a dedicated concert at King’s Place (15 November 2025).

Folk Inspirations

Folk traditions, both British and global, run as a rich thread through the season. Multi-instrumentalists Stevens & Pound join Britten Sinfonia to reinterpret Holst’s The Planets for orchestra with melodeon and percussion soloists, alongside Britten’s A Time There Was and Grainger’s A Lincolnshire Posy (28–30 January 2026). Meanwhile, the genre-defying ZRI Quintet bring a gypsy tavern spirit to Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, Schubert’s String Quintet and Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata (17 & 18 April 2026), evoking the lively atmosphere of Vienna’s Red Hedgehog pub (Zum Roten Igel).

Climate, Nature and Fragile Worlds

Britten Sinfonia continues to spotlight urgent environmental issues. A major highlight is Sea Beneath the Skin at the Barbican (2 February 2026), a groundbreaking collaboration with director Lemi Ponifasio, featuring the chamber orchestration of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. This powerful performance gives voice to those living on the frontlines of climate change.

Other nature-inspired programmes include Earth and Other Planets with Stevens & Pound and writer Robert Macfarlane (28–30 January 2026), plus a striking concert of Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus (with its recorded birdsong), Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, and Gregor Mayrhofer’s Recycling Concerto, performed by percussionist Vivi Vassileva (12 & 13 March 2026).

Exciting Collaborations

The season features a number of exciting collaborations, including concerts with rising star pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 alongside works by Elena Kats-Chernin, Robin Haigh and Schubert (28 September – 1 October 2025).

There’s also a welcome reunion with Guy Johnston for performances of Tavener’s The Protecting Veil, building on their critically acclaimed collaboration from last year. Performances and filmed recordings will include concerts at St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, London (28 & 29 October 2025).

Continuing its tradition of cross-artform innovation, Britten Sinfonia partners with Sadler’s Wells for a triple bill of ballet settings featuring music by Nico Muhly (20–22 November 2025), and joins the Royal Opera Jette Parker Young Artists Programme for a new triple bill production at the Linbury Theatre (1–9 May 2026).

Britten Sinfonia’s December performances include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Polyphony and Stephen Layton in Norwich and Saffron Walden (10 & 13 December 2025).

In Holy Week 2026, the orchestra collaborates with Nigel Short and Tenebrae in performances of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross (St Martin in the Fields Church, 28 March, and other venues tba).

Community and Learning Initiatives

Britten Sinfonia continues to connect communities across the East of England through an imaginative programme of schools concerts and creative workshops. Touring across the region this year, these interactive performances use music, storytelling and visual art to support emotional wellbeing, encourage creative expression, and inspire the next generation of young listeners — made possible thanks to generous public support through The Big Give.

Britten Sinfonia also continues to deepen its commitment to music in healthcare settings. Following a successful partnership with CUH Arts at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the orchestra is now expanding its programme to include regular performances and participatory workshops at Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. This activity is supported by The Big Give’s Arts for Impact campaign.

Britten Sinfonia’s support for emerging talent also continues with the Magnum Opus Showcase on Saturday 15 November at Kings Place. The concert features three world premieres by early-career composers Michael Betteridge, Leoni King, and George Stevenson. Performed by acclaimed soloists including pianist Clare Hammond and soprano Patricia Auchterlonie, the event offers a platform for fresh and diverse compositional voices.

Further performances at spring and summer 2026 festivals will be announced later in the season. 

- ENDS -

Media Enquiries:
Damaris Laker, Artium Media Relations
damaris [at] artiummediarelations.co.uk


About Britten Sinfonia

Britten Sinfonia creates impactful and inspirational musical experiences, whether through its adventurous programming in concert halls and innovative formats – such as its immersive Surround Sound Playlist – or its programmes created especially for school pupils, hospital patients and local communities.

Rooted in the East of England, where it is the only professional orchestra working throughout the region, Britten Sinfonia also has a national and international reputation as one of today’s finest ensembles. “Innovative as always” (Guardian, 2025), it is equally renowned for the remarkable breadth of its collaborations – from Steve Reich, Mahan Esfahani and Alison Balsom to Anoushka Shankar, Jacob Collier and Pagrav Dance Company – and for its nurturing of new compositional voices: over three decades, Britten Sinfonia has premiered more than 300 new works,

Britten Sinfonia’s main concert activity is in London, Saffron Walden, Cambridge and Norwich, and it also performs in Bury St Edmunds, Ely, Peterborough and Chelmsford. The orchestra often performs at London’s Wigmore Hall and appears at UK festivals including Aldeburgh, Brighton, Norfolk & Norwich and the BBC Proms. Its prolific discography features many award-winning recordings on labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Chandos, Warner and Hyperion.

brittensinfonia.com